Have you ever heard anyone say “Man, I just have way too much time. I mean I just don’t know what to do with all of this free time.”

Yea, didn’t think so… None of us do. In fact, “I just haven’t had enough time” is by far the number one reason people give for not accomplishing more in their lives.

I want you to think a high achieving individual who you aspire to be like (Hint: ideally me :)).

Got one?

Ok, so here is the interesting thing.

That person you thought of has the exact same amount of time in their day as you do. They don’t have a superpower that allows them to slow down time, and you don’t have an anti-superpower (yea I did that) that makes time in your world move faster.

Sure, we all have different challenges to deal with. There is no denying that fact, but at the end of the day, one of the major differences between high achievers and those who are unable to accomplish their goals is how high achievers handle their time.

Where high achievers continue to focus on doing things more efficiently in order to get more accomplished in the same amount of time, low achievers often continue to try to pack more and more into their lives without improving efficiency, resulting in an accrual of the amount of time they need to get more done, which gets worse as a person reaches their mental capacity.

This is exactly the phenomenon that results in complete mental overwhelm, and those feelings of “I just don’t have enough time,” “I just can’t handle any more” and the infamous “fuck it, I’m done.”

Hopefully you don’t get to that last one too much.

Getting Things Done… Faster

Aside from putting your projects through the Productivity Blueprint like I teach in my Output Overdrive course, the next step to better time management is and avoiding overwhelm with piling up priorities is getting things done faster.

In the last post, you learned about one of the main reasons we get stuck with all sorts of unfinished projects, having too many things in motion at once, and you learned a really simple strategy to help you become a finisher.

That’s a huge problem in almost everyone’s life. If you missed it, check that one out here before reading today’s post. It’s important you maintain that level of focus.

Today, I want you to take it a step further.

Once you’ve selected your one or two main projects you’d like to focus on (remember we are the most productive when we are able to focus), you’re still faced with the large task of figuring out how to tackle those projects from beginning to end the most efficiently, especially if you’re someone who is short on time.

To explore that, let’s go to the archives.

These posts and videos contain some of the most effective time management tactics that you can use in order to increase your efficiency while you work, thus helping you get more done in the same amount of time, or less.

1. The Power Through it Myth of Productivity, Debunked

It always interests me to hear others talk about their methods of productivity, and how they get so much done in their lives. This particular story is interesting because it exemplifies exactly what NOT to do in order to accomplish more over the long term.

Check it out and make sure you don’t end up like the dudes in the story.

2. How to Get Way More Done Using the Sticky Note Technique

A simple little sticky note can go a long way in helping you to increase your productivity. It has a few inherent features that you just can’t get out of any productivity tool, app, or piece of software.

Check out this video from the early days of Academy Success to learn a technique you can use every day of your life.

6. What a Frog Can Teach You About Time Management Success

Prioritization is a huge key to getting things done. In the time management classic by Brian Tracy, he teaches us to “Eat That Frog”

This post explores the science behind eating frogs and why this is such a powerful technique to help you power through your day.

For more techniques like these, as well as how to tie them all together into a productivity system of your own, check out my Output Overdrive course, currently accepting new students (at the time of this post).

Coming Soon

2014 is just around the corner. Keep an eye out later this month when I’ll share with you how to make big changes for the new year without becoming overwhelmed.

Lastly – Did you like this post? Do me a favor and open up your favorite email program and send it to someone else you think it would help as well. It’s a win/win!

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About Cody Wheeler

Hi. I'm Cody Wheeler, founder of Academy Success, the place where people come to learn how to solidify their personal finances and lead a more successful life. Get free training and my financial automation checklist collection by signing up here for free.

Comments

If you’d like a tool for managing your time and projects, you can use this web-application inspired by David Allen’s GTD:

GTD Agenda.com

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote and Google Calendar, and also comes with mobile version, and Android and iPhone apps.